Last Chance
by TRikiD
Summary: Miles' daughter Elizabeth never had a mother to love, so her family is limited to her father and the lemons that work for him. Elizabeth felt that she had the closest connection to Professor Zundapp, and tries everything to earn his respect. But Zundapp never gives her a chance. How long until he realizes she is his last chance at true happiness, and vice versa?
1. Chapter 1 - Attention

Last Chance

Chapter 1 - Attention

Miles Axlerod wasn't always the power-hungry, violent fellow you came to know; in fact, he was once a normal car with a happy life and family of his own. Sadly, that happiness had to come to a bleak end when his wife died of unnatural causes, leaving him alone to raise their infant daughter.

But Miles knew the real reason behind his wife's demise; it was all in vain because she was a lemon. He knew the outside world figured that there was no hope for her, even though he never gave up. This unfortunate event in Miles' life sparked a fire of hatred and revenge to newer and better cars, and he vowed to avenge his wife.

But first, Miles would require a large push to achieve this, financially that is. And once he unexpectedly discovered an immense amount of oil, he became a famous oil billionaire to individuals across the globe. And with this new power, Miles gained access to a poor and vengeful lemon just like him.

"Have you called them?" Miles asked sternly, as he and his second-in-command were going over some important documents in the grand office of his mansion.

"Yes, Sir. And the plans are already being set—but we still need more time," the pale blue 1957 Zundapp Janus replied in respect, a noticeable German accent rolling off of his tongue; he was a young car with silver eyes with a very round pair of glasses, and he wore a snazzy red bow tie on his fender.

"How _much_ time?"

"It's hard to say. But I'm sure that once we get more recourses to headquarters, it should be _*schnell_ — _very_ quick."

"Hey, Dad?"

The two older cars' eyes widened when they were interrupted by a tiny voice, and they turned to find a miniature and feminine version of Miles halfway visible in the doorway; her eyes were also blue just like Miles', but her paint was an eye-catching crimson.

"What is it, Elizabeth?" Miles asked his ten-year-old daughter with utmost sincerity.

"There are some old cars out front. They said they wanted to talk to you," Elizabeth informed and slowly inched forward, and she smiled when she saw Zundapp, "Hi, Mr. Z!"

" _*Guten tag_ ," the professor greeted flatly, and then turned back to Miles while lowering his voice, "Those are the guests I told you about."

"Right, go let them in. I'll be there in a moment," Miles instructed and Zundapp nodded before leaving the office. And just when he exited the office, Elizabeth attempted to follow close behind.

"Any new inventions or crazy experiments?" Elizabeth questioned in excitement.

"Pardon me?" Zundapp asked in shock.

"Well, you're a professor. That's what you do, right? Make weird and sometimes evil inventions to destroy the world?" Professor Zundapp was truly at a loss for words now, especially when the young car pulled in front of him and stopped him in his tracks.

"That, My Dear, is a mad scientist," Zundapp finally spoke, completely confident that this naïve child would buy his lies, " _I_ am an investor of a new and better future for…cars like your father and me."

With that, the German car brushed Elizabeth away and drove around her, finally continuing to the lobby like he originally meant to.

"But you'd make a great mad scientist!" Elizabeth called happily, once again making Zundapp screech to a halt, and he turned to face her with confusion, "I mean, sure, you're just some boring professor, but you're just too smart."

At first, Zundapp didn't know what to say, as he stared on at Elizabeth with wide eyes again. But eventually, a prideful smirk grew on the professor's face, " _*Gleichfalls_."

Elizabeth was disappointed when Zundapp didn't stick around to talk, and noticeably left a bit hastily; she honestly liked hanging out with this oddball car. He was much more fun than her dad, anyway.

 _What do I have ta do ta get your attention, Professor?_ Elizabeth pondered with concentrated and puckered lips.

* * *

 **Short chapters. The bane of my existence-_-**

 **Anyway, just to clarify a few things, any words with a * beside it is a foreign word, and I will tell you what they mean at the end of every chapter. Also, I would like to thank MidniteTheDSiXL for beta reading this for me. Thanks again, buddy:D**

 ** _*Schnell:_ quick**

 _ ***Guten Tag:**_ **good day**

 ** _*Gleichfalls_ : likewise, you too**

 **Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Monocle

**OMG0_0**

 **Lemonfizz from DeviantArt, is that you?! If it is, I've seen your Cars fanart and it's AWESOME!**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Monocle

A few years had gone by, and Elizabeth was a teenager now and was growing into a fine woman, which was a rather big problem for Miles; he knew she was much smarter and curious, and very likely to expose his ultimate plan. So, what would she think of her own father? Would she see him as a tyrant? A maniac? A murderer?

Miles constantly pushed those dark thoughts aside and focused more on his work, especially now as he sat late one night in his study, designing the next part to his big plan. And even with the silence of night having fallen over his mansion, he wasn't the only one who was up and about.

"More bills?" came a soft and raspy voice. Miles looked up from his desk and smiled softly at Elizabeth.

"What are you doing up so late, Young Lady?" Miles inquired firmly.

"Can't sleep. And neither can you, apparently," Elizabeth mused with a smirk.

"Well, I've got work, and _you've_ got school in the morning. So, go on, off to bed with you."

"If only I had the power to tell you when to go ta bed." Miles still managed to hear her under her breath, and couldn't help but roll his eyes as she left his office.

But as Elizabeth left her father's study, she failed to notice a large shadowy figure fast approaching and attempted to get into Miles' study. The two collided and bumped each other back, the sound of glass breaking piercing the air.

Startled, Elizabeth whipped around and was horrified to find that she had backed into none other than Professor Zundapp, "Oh, I'm so, so sorry, Professor Z! I didn't see you!"

" _*Ruhig_. There is no sense in crying over something that was not your entire fault. I wasn't paying attention, either," Zundapp calmly protested. But when he shook off the daze, a few tiny shards fell from the cracked left frame in his glasses.

"Jesus Chrysler, I broke your glasses?!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "I swear, I'll fix this!"

"There's no need," Zundapp grimly cut in, "There are more important matters than impaired vision for me to worry about. So, please, don't grieve over it, My Dear."

The small German car didn't say another after that, and finally entered Miles' study while closing the door behind him.

"But I'm sorry," Elizabeth repeated under her breath, glancing down at the ground with guilt. One way or another, she was going to make things right with Zundapp, even if he says it's just small and insignificant. She didn't care.

* * *

Elizabeth was told specifically told not to go into Zundapp's lab, as he would always be undergoing dangerous experiments and that those same experiments are not meant for wandering eyes. But that didn't stop Miles' ambitious daughter; she had a very good reason for entering without warning, at least in her opinion.

Truth be told, all she wanted to do was deliver a special gift to Zundapp, for his birthday was tomorrow and she was certain this would fix her mistake.

"Hey, Professor Z? You in here?" Elizabeth called softly as she entered the lab, but her smile faltered when the said German scientist was nowhere in sight, "Zundapp?"

Just then, a table with large blueprints caught her eye, and she couldn't help but get a better look; Elizabeth's eyes trailed over the designs for a weapon entitled "Electromagnetic Pulse Emitter." But what really caught her attention was when she saw a paragraph that mentioned her father's all-natural fuel.

"What does Dad's fuel have to do with this weapon?" Elizabeth pondered aloud.

"What're you doing?!" a voice scolded, and Elizabeth jumped around in surprise to find a very annoyed Zundapp; the large crack in his glasses were still a reminder of what happened between them not too long ago, especially he accidentally rammed a tire into the table while angrily approaching Elizabeth.

"You're not supposed to be in here, _*Kind_!"

"I-I just wanted to-." Unfortunately, Elizabeth's attempts to reveal the specially wrapped birthday present for Zundapp were futile when he violently sideswiped her hood, leaving a small dent.

"Alas, I couldn't care less about your naïve little dreams," Zundapp growled with a cold glare, " _*Geh mir aus den Augen_."

The young Range Rover could only shudder and cry in the shadow of the one she thought she cared so deeply for. And when Zundapp's patience was tried, he snapped, "I said get out!"

Not thinking twice, Elizabeth finally let her tears fall as she sped out of the lab, failing to notice that she dropped her gift to Zundapp.

" _*Unbeduetend kind_ ," the professor mumbled under his breath, but cocked a brow when he saw the wrapped present on the floor. Intrigued, Zundapp lifted a tire to read the tag, " _To Professor Zundapp, the smartest person I've ever met:)_ "

Zundapp suddenly recalled that little chat he had with Elizabeth when she was younger, sparking the teensiest feeling of guilt inside. But pushing the shame aside, the scientist started tearing the wrapping paper apart to reveal a small and rectangular black box.

When he opened the box, Zundapp removed his broken glasses in shock; it was a brand new monocle. Zundapp carefully picked it up, and adjusted it to fit over his left eye, where his vision was most impaired.

"Oh, Elizabeth—you never cease to surprise me," Zundapp sighed sorrowfully.

* * *

Despite her last horrible encounter with Zundapp, Elizabeth managed to fix the dent and make it seem like it was never there, and what's more is that she never spoke a word to Miles about it.

She knew good and well that Zundapp needed to be brought to justice, but something inside her just kept her from doing so. And she couldn't tell what it was. Perhaps it was fear of getting struck again, or maybe losing Zundapp's trust completely…or maybe something even greater that she now denies.

But even with the audacity to hide this, Elizabeth didn't want to go through it all alone. So, she eventually consulted her closest and most trusted friend, Jim; he was the son and spitting image of Grem Motoregna, another lemon that worked closely with Miles, and he was just around the same age as Elizabeth. The two had known each other since her father first hired Grem, and they knew they always had each other's backs.

"So, what's so important that ya had ta bug me at four in the morning?" Jim questioned groggily, as he welcomed Elizabeth into his flat.

"I'm just a little paranoid, is all," Elizabeth replied shakily.

"Yer dad doesn't know you're here, does he?" Jim stated matter-of-factly.

"No."

"Great. That just means there's an ass whoopin' waitin' for me when he _does_ find out."

"Don't worry about him! …I-I just need a place to hide for a few days until I can figure some things out."

"What's wrong with your place?"

"It's complicated." Jim only stared at her with an expectant look, making her sigh in defeat. "Ok, look, there's something there I need to avoid."

"Something or _someone_?"

"Jim…"

"Alright, alright, you're clearly not gonna spill anymore beans. 'Sides, I'm just another one of Miles' lackeys, so what right do I have?" As Jim turned away and scowled at nothing, Elizabeth crept forward and placed a gentle tire against his.

"Please, Jim. Just for a little while," she begged softly.

"Ugh, fine," Jim sighed while averting his glare to his friend, "But I ain't doin' this for free."

"I'll put the check in your account, ok?"

"Ah-ah! Cash only!"

"Again?" Once more, Jim gave Elizabeth a flat look and cocked a brow. "Ok…I'll see what I can sneak past my dad."

* * *

And just as she promised, Elizabeth left Jim's place once a few days had passed and she finally figured out a plan—but she wouldn't like it; though, it would make one of her father's dreams come true, and she could stay away from Zundapp. She could kill two birds with one stone.

"Elizabeth Caroline Axlerod, you better have a good explanation for running away, or so help me-!" Miles roared at the top of his lungs, quickly approaching his daughter in the foyer and unable to finish his threat.

"I'm really sorry, Dad, honest…I was just…" Elizabeth paused and sighed, "You know how you've wanted me to go to that one school Aunt Peggy went to?"

"Walt's Boarding School for Finer Young Women?" Miles inquired with interest.

"That's the one. I…I should've listened to you before, and…there's no better time like the present, right?"

Miles was taken aback, "Elizabeth, are you sure about this? I want you to have a great future, but not if you really don't agree with it."

"I just want you to be happy, Dad," Elizabeth gently protested with a smile.

Defeated, Miles sighed and nodded. "Ok. If this really is what you want, than who am I to stop my little girl from becoming a woman?"

Elizabeth blushed at that. "Thanks, Dad."

The conversation was awkwardly ended right there, and Elizabeth drove past her father with a fake smile. While Miles was truly proud of his daughter for finally stepping up to adulthood, he would never know the real reason why she suddenly changed her mind.

* * *

Not long after their discussion, Miles called up the boarding school and made arrangements for Elizabeth to stay for a few years. And, of course, she promised to call her father and stay in touch as much as possible. But when word of Miles' precious daughter leaving spread amongst some of the lemons, some weren't as amused or careless as others.

As Elizabeth was packing the remnants of her luggage early one morning, her guard was completely down due to the guilt and sorrow of leaving her literal and metaphorical family behind, and that she wouldn't see them again for quite some time.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye," a familiar German accent stated matter-of-factly, and Elizabeth turned to find Zundapp himself standing outside of her bedroom.

"Sorry, I-I just thought that…you didn't want to see me right now," the Range Rover admitted sheepishly, making the professor blink.

"Yes, well—parting is such sweet sorrow."

Zundapp pulled off another one of his cliché and awkward departures, leaving Elizabeth bewildered by the cultural quote and what it meant. After everything they've been through, he really looked forward to seeing her again? She wanted to get his attention, but not like this.

* * *

 _ ***Ruhig:**_ **quiet**

 _ ***Kind:**_ **child**

 ** _*Geh mir aus den Augen_ : get out of my sight**

 ** _*Unbeduetend kind_ : insignificant child**

 **(If it really is you Lemonfizz, give me a sign:3)**

 **Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


End file.
